If you slide through the ball, you've already been told to stop sliding. What you probably haven't been told is why you're sliding in the first place. For most golfers, a downswing slide is a recovery move — the body is trying to shift back toward the target after a backswing that drifted away from it. Fix the sway going back and the slide going through often fixes itself.
Eric Barlow goes to the root. The full drill is at pathpalgolf.com/pages/pathpal-golf-sway-stopper-trail-leg-barrier-drill.
The trail leg either rotates correctly or drifts into the barrier. There is no ambiguity about which is happening.
The drill
Eric Barlow — PGA Master Professional and Director of Instruction at Winchester Country Club, Golf Digest Best Teachers in Every State (2022–2027), NEPGA Section Teacher of the Year (2018), Massachusetts Chapter Teacher of the Year (2016), NEPGA Massachusetts Chapter Player of the Year (2016, 2018), US Open Local Qualifying advancer (2019), and winner of the New England PGA Stroke Play Series Finals (2025) — places the pathpal at 90 degrees outside the trail leg as a backswing sway boundary.
Setup
- 1. Set pathpal to 90 degrees — fully vertical
- 2. Place it just outside the trail leg at address
- 3. Take the club back, turning around the rod rather than swaying into it
- 4. Trail leg stabilizes as the rotation axis — the rod catches any lateral drift immediately
The correction is enforced physically. The rod is there. There is no ambiguity about which is happening.
Watch the drill
Watch the full drill on YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=uD0x-B_OfgE
Why it works
The 90-degree trail leg barrier works because it makes the sway structurally impossible rather than just undesirable. A golfer who has been told "don't sway" without a physical reference continues to sway because the nervous system doesn't have a clear signal for when the movement crosses the line from acceptable weight shift to destructive lateral drift. The pathpal rod provides exactly that signal — at 90 degrees outside the trail leg, any movement that crosses the barrier is objectively too far.
When the barrier enforces the rotation, two things happen simultaneously. First, the trail leg stabilizes as the axis and stores the elastic energy that a sway dissipates. Second, the body's center of mass stays over the ball rather than drifting away from it, which means the downswing can begin immediately without a lateral recovery step. For golfers who sway and slide — the most common combination — the backswing rod removes the initiating cause of both faults in a single setup.
Part of a complete system
Eric's three-drill pathpal system addresses the complete fault chain from first movement to impact. The Sway Stopper is the logical starting point.
A centered backswing position gives the downswing a stable platform to work from, which is why the rotation correction at the trail leg often produces immediate improvements in contact quality even before the other two drills are added.
Who this is for
- ✓Golfers who have been told to stop sliding on the downswing but keep reverting to the pattern — because the slide is a response to a backswing sway that hasn't been addressed
- ✓Players whose backswing feels like a "big turn" but produces inconsistent top-of-swing positions — because the turn is actually a lateral drift that masquerades as rotation
- ✓Anyone who loses their spine angle or drifts off the ball on the backswing without being able to feel when the movement is too much
- ✓Golfers who want to practice Eric's complete three-drill pathpal system for the most efficient path from current lower-body faults to a stable, powerful impact position
Try it
Place the pathpal at 90 degrees outside the trail leg and make 15 practice swings to the top — turning around the rod on every rep. Feel the trail leg stabilizing as the axis rather than moving away from the ball. Once 10 consecutive reps clear the rod cleanly, hit 15 shots at 75% effort maintaining the same trail leg anchoring.
Then pair this session with Eric's Stop the Slide drill — sway stopper first, slide drill second — and notice how much more stable and repeatable the impact position becomes when both ends of the lateral movement chain are addressed in the same practice session.
- Set pathpal at 90° outside trail leg — make 15 swings to the top, turning around the rod
- Once 10 consecutive reps clear cleanly, add a ball — 15 shots at 75% effort
- Move the rod to the lead leg (Stop the Slide setup) — repeat with 15 more swings
- Finish with Eric's Ball-First ground rod to confirm the low point has shifted forward
Related drills
This drill is the first step in Eric's complete lower-body correction system. Work through all three drills in sequence for the most complete fix:
Lower Body · Eric Barlow
"Stop the Slide" Lead Leg Rotation
Step two of the system — 90° rod outside the lead leg catches the downswing slide that a backswing sway so often triggers. Practice after the Sway Stopper in the same session.
Impact · Eric Barlow
"Ball-First" Impact Control Drill
Step three — ground rod behind the ball confirms the low point is forward. Catches the fat shot that sway and slide combine to produce, and trains the forward-low-point feel directly.
Swing Path · Eric Barlow
"Over the Top" Elimination Barrier Drill
Also uses a 90° lead leg barrier — but positioned to eliminate the over-the-top downswing path that produces pulls and weak cuts, rather than the lateral slide fault.
See all pathpal drills: pathpalgolf.com/pages/all-drills
About Eric Barlow
Eric Barlow
Director of Instruction · Winchester Country Club, Winchester, MA
Eric Barlow is a PGA Master Professional and Director of Instruction at Winchester Country Club, Golf Digest Best Teachers in Every State (2022–2027), NEPGA Section Teacher of the Year (2018), Massachusetts Chapter Teacher of the Year (2016), and winner of the 2025 New England PGA Stroke Play Series Finals.
@ericbarlowpga · pathpal on Instagram
Frequently asked questions
How do I set up the pathpal for the Sway Stopper drill?
Set the pathpal to 90 degrees — fully vertical — and place it just outside the trail leg at address. The rod marks the outer boundary of correct backswing lower body movement. Take the club back, focusing on rotating around the pathpal rather than swaying into it. Any backswing where the trail hip drifts laterally away from the target will contact the rod. Any backswing where the lower body rotates around a stable trail leg axis will clear it.
Why does fixing the backswing sway also help the downswing slide?
For most golfers, the downswing slide is a recovery move — the body drifts away from the target on the backswing and then has to shift back aggressively to find impact. That lateral reversal often overshoots, producing the slide. Fix the backswing sway and the body doesn't need to recover, so the slide often diminishes or disappears on its own. That's why Eric identifies the Sway Stopper as the logical first step — address the root, and the compensation often resolves itself.
What is the difference between a backswing sway and a proper weight shift?
A backswing sway moves the trail hip and entire lower body laterally away from the target — the center of mass shifts toward the trail side rather than rotating around it. A proper backswing turn rotates the hips and torso around a stable trail leg axis — the trail hip turns back and around while the trail leg maintains its angle and position. The 90-degree rod makes the distinction physical and unambiguous: lateral drift contacts it, rotation clears it.
Why does sway cause a loss of power rather than adding to it?
Sway feels powerful because it involves significant lower body movement — but the movement is in the wrong direction. When the lower body drifts laterally, the weight shift occurs horizontally rather than being stored as rotational torque. On the downswing, that horizontal weight must first shift back toward the target before rotation can occur — costing time and sequence. A centered, rotational backswing coils around the trail leg, stores elastic energy in the hip and core, and delivers that energy directly into the downswing without a lateral recovery step.
Can I practice the Sway Stopper and Stop the Slide drills in the same session?
Yes — and Eric specifically recommends it. The two drills address opposite ends of the lateral movement chain: the trail leg barrier catches the backswing sway, the lead leg barrier catches the downswing slide. Practicing both in sequence — sway stopper first, slide drill second — addresses the complete fault chain and produces the most stable, repeatable impact position. Add the Ball-First ground rod at the end to confirm the low point has shifted forward as a result of the improved body mechanics.
Fix where the problem actually starts
One rod at 90 degrees. One placement outside the trail leg. pathpal makes the sway structurally impossible — and gives your downswing a stable platform to work from.
Shop pathpal
